Act Three - The Reviews

Powerhouse Tracy Letts penned a killer show several years ago - August Osage County - family drama - intense - drug fueled.  Wowza.  His latest installment off-Broadway, Man From Nebraska, is far from that prior mark. Intentional, I'm pretty sure.  This show is brooding, show, vacuous, empty, hopeless, and depressing.  This is not all necessarily bad, it just leaves you quite a different taste in your mouth than the prior installment. Sometimes life throws you curve balls.  Some people swerve to avoid them, others get beamed directly in the head.  Such is life.

Probably the hardest working actor on and off Broadway, Reed Birney, (Ken) helms this production and is basically whom the entire show revolves around Ken and his mid-life religious crisis.  Kathleen Peirce (Cammie Carpenter) is his devoutly religious wife who is left to deal with the fallout.  It was not lost on me that Ken was from dead-center America where religion is much more central to the lives of people.  Ken meets Harry Brown , the brilliant Max Gordon Moore and Tamyra, the lovely Nana Mensah.  It also did not get lost on me that in his mid-life crisis he flew the coop to London - a city that could not be more different than Nebraska.  Mr. Letts seemed to be hinting at these disparities in quite a bit of the dialogue - (Ken: "I lost my faith", Tamyra: "They throw you Yanks out for that these days?").

Part blistering critique of religion and America, part human condition, Mr. Letts shows us what happens when man questions long held beliefs as provincial and narrow as they might seem.  He may or may not find something more satisfying out there.  He may come back. Or maybe he won't.  Despite the rather hum-drum and depressing Nebraska life that Ken leads, we do find that he is able to expand his horizons if even for a brief period.

Frankly Mr. Letts' play doesn't really answer the question it merely scratches the surface and explores the topic.  If you are looking for definitive answers you won't find them here.

There's something playing over at the Vineyard Theatre that is nothing short of spectacular.  Paula Vogel has penned a superb play-within-a -play based on a true story of a Yiddish theatre troupe in the early 20th century.

Well written and crisply acted, this theatre troupe acting as a theatre troupe packs a powerful punch.  Not overly Yiddish (as most of us would not understand), but the show employs a clever theatrical device to indicate when they are speaking in English and when they are supposed to be speaking in English.  When they are supposed to be speaking Yiddish, they speak in clear, fluid English (and there are Hebrew sub-titles).  When they are supposed to be speaking English they put on a thick accent.  Director Rebecca Taichman has cleverly and seamlessly nested this play-within-a-play.  To denote the passage of time (to speed things along) a subtitle occasionally pops up and the actors freeze momentarily ("In A Blink of Time" the subtitle reads).  The lighting and most costumes are dark and grey - similar to the time and the feeling.  Except for an occasional white nightgown, of course.

The play-within-a-play focuses on a European Jew who wrote a play that shocked and entertained the high culture all around Europe.  When the play came to the USA, it played well downtown (read Avant Garde) theatre scene but when it came to Broadway, the American sensibilities (even in the Jewish community) were outraged.  They play was shut down and the cast and creatives arrested for indecency.  The play focuses alternatively on the struggle of the playwright and the struggle of the actors.

What on earth could be so scandalous?  Two girls kissing.  Two Jewish girls kissing.  Written by a Jew.  Acted by Jews.  Outraged and already sensitive to being perceived as not fitting in around the world at this time - many love it - many shunned the idea of it.

These circumstances are all wrapped up in Ms. Vogel's play which keeps you riveted and holds your attention throughout the entire production.  As you would expect, it doesn't end well for this theatre troupe - ending up in the wrong city at the wrong time.  The playwright who subsequently moved to America has his own demons and you'll just have to run down to the Vineyard to see how this is all plays out.  It's worth the trip.